Tag Archives: light bulb

I was reading an article today in a Norwegian magazine about lighting, in particular, room lighting.

It then told the reader about the various types of light bulb one could purchase to achieve the desired lighting effect. Not one of these light bulbs was under £12,- each!

That started me thinking once again about our simple minded politicians who with an income far in excess of the national averages make decisions without understanding the effect they are going to have on Mr & Ms Average in society.

So, somebody whispers in the ear of the Euro and national MP’s light bulbs are bad for the climate. Well, they do use electricity, don’t they, so without too much consideration to the consequences on you and I they ban production of incandescent light bulbs. What they didn’t think about was what should replace them. In fact light bulb manufacturers were caught unawares and had to go into high gear to find and alternative. The first results were those dreadful things that made a room look like a morgue.

What these wonderful members of the various parliaments didn’t bother to look into are the consequences of their actions. First of all, yes we use a little less energy to illuminate our homes now, but the manufacturers use more energy producing them. And then there is the cost, to you and I of electricity which the power companies have cynically increased to cover the cost of less usage and of course to make sure the share holders still get their share. We, as individuals are in fact still using the same amount of electricity as we have done the last few years because of all our little electric gadgets and which one of our grey suited leaders doesn’t have an Ipad or Mobile or TV or washing machine or fridge or whatever. Then there is the health aspect. Research is now showing that our wonderful new and improved light bulbs are emitting high levels of ultraviolet radiation which can burn our skin, initiate cell death and cause skin cancer.

So here we all are, paying more for light bulbs than we ever did before, despite being told they last longer, something I haven’t experienced as true. Being subjected to harmful UV rays and paying higher electric bills despite being conned into thinking we would be making great savings at the same time as helping our ecological problems. By the way, and here’s the crux of my argument, did you know, the volcanic eruption in Iceland, since its first spewing of volcanic ash did, in just FOUR DAYS, NEGATE EVERY SINGLE EFFORT you and I have made in the past five years to control CO² emissions on our planet* – all of us. And MP’s are worried about light bulbs!

Why do we as citizens just sit back and allow people who know no more about the various topics they are making decisions on; to do so; without first consulting us and allowing us, to understand the consequences.

I’m as guilty as most, I just sit back and allow them to do it but why?

I’m just asking

(*Read Ian Rutherford Plimer an Australian geologist, professor emeritus of earth sciences at the University of Melbourne, professor of mining geology at the University of Adelaide, and the director of multiple mineral exploration and mining companies. He has published 130 scientific papers, six books and edited the Encyclopaedia of Geology.)